First One Home
First One to Survive
by
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My journey started with a phone call, that terrible phone call that all parents dread...the phone call they hope they will never get. The one where your child is on the other line saying, "Mom, I'm in the hospital". But in my case, it was so much worse....my child was on the other side of the world......and in a war zone. Yes, it all started with that phone call.
"Hi, mom, it's me." What's happening? "I'm in the hospital in Iraq, but the good news is that the doctors think they know what it is and how to treat it." He proceeded to tell me how his legs had started to go numb, and how the numbness grew worse and spread upward until he couldn't stand.
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About the Book
Joe was a U. S. Marine, deployed to Iraq, when a strange numbness began in his legs. Within 24 hours, he was totally paralyzed and on life support, and the doctors were scrambling to save his life. Even after he arrived back in the U.S., still in a coma, the doctors were divided on how to treat him, eventually leaving his mother and brother to decide. Joe had had a severe reaction to his smallpox vaccination, a reaction seen in less than 1% of those vaccinated. A reaction that few survive.
About the Author
Barbara had lead a fairly quiet life until her youngest son was suddenly stricken with a very rare auto-immune disease while serving as a U. S. Marine in Iraq. Ultimately, he would be the first to survive this illness. As she advocated for her son, she also dealt with her husband's declining health, and ultimate death. In this, her first book, she leads the reader through the ups and downs of being a caretaker, always encouraging with a "never give up" attitude. There is always hope when one believes.